A woman will face court charged over Islamophobic attacks on two women at a shopping centre, as one of the victims says she remains terrified.

The 31-year-old Pascoe Vale woman is accused of assaulting a pregnant 30-year-old Muslim woman inside an Epping shopping complex in Melbourne’s north on Thursday before attacking 26-year-old Ealaf Al-Easawi about 10 minutes later.

“She came straight towards me, slapped me with what I believe was a closed fist to the left side of face and my chest and shoved me so hard to the tiled floor,” Al-Easawi said.

The childcare worker was grocery shopping on her break and said she had never seen her attacker before.

“I was shaking. I could barely talk and breathe,” Al-Easawi said.

The 26-year-old says she is now too scared to leave her home and has trouble sleeping due to body aches, bruises and back pain.

“I feel terrified, traumatised and still can’t believe what happened to me,” she said.

“The scene won’t come out of my head. It keeps repeating itself in my mind – how I got attacked.

“I’m not a homebody, but since Thursday, I’ve been stuck in front of the four walls, and every crack I hear from the house, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, there’s someone coming’.”

Instagram: Usman Khawaja

Victoria Police charged a woman on Wednesday with intentionally and recklessly cause injury, unlawful assault and aggravated assault.

It will be allege the victims were targeted because of their head coverings.

Investigators are also investigating a report of online threats being made against one of the victims.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quizzed on Wednesday about the Islamophobic incident, offering his first comments almost a week after the assault.

“Any attack on people on the basis of their faith or who they are is reprehensible, and I certainly hope that the perpetrators get tracked down and face the full force of the law,” he said.

Albanese also denied Australians view Islamophobia differently to antisemitism, pointing to the appointment of a special envoy on Islamophobia.

“I take all attacks on the basis of people’s faiths seriously,” he said.

When asked about political leaders’ slow response to the attack, Al-Easawi said it caused fear among the community.

“It causes this terrible thing inside that person feeling, ‘oh, why aren’t they condemning this?’,” she said.

“I am part of this country, and this country is a multicultural country.”

On Tuesday, Australian cricket star Usman Khawaja accused Albanese of being silent over Islamophobic attacks and favouring other faiths.

The “atrocious” attacks will be “swept under the rug like all attacks against the Islamic community”, Khawaja said in an Instagram post.

Asked on Tuesday for a comment on the attacks following his prompt responses to a spate of antisemitic incidents, Albanese’s office pointed to a statement released by federal assistant minister for multicultural affairs Julian Hill.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the violence was unacceptable, egregious and a disgrace and of particular concern was one of the victims being pregnant.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan condemned the “horrific” attacks, calling them “evil hatred”.

Australia’s Special Envoy to combat Islamophobia Aftab Malik said the “disgusting” attacks on the women brought the hidden cancer of Islamophobia to the surface.

-AAP